[System summary at end of post.]
Since summer my previously stable W7 system has been freezing up randomly. The screen freezes, the keyboard and mouse don't work, and taping the Caps Lock or Num Lock does not make the indicator light change state. I have to reboot with the case power butons. It could go for days without freezing or sometimes would freeze twice in five hours. I can find no connection to specific programs or tasks running when the freezes happen. All Windows Updates are applied. Even with only keyboard, mouse, monitor and Ethernet cable plugged in the freezes occur. Aside from these random freezes the system seems entirely stable.
To troubleshoot I have:
1. Swapped in a different video card: keeps freezing
2. Upgraded CPU: keeps freezing
3. Ran Perfmon and found no problems: keeps freezing
4. Ran MemTest88 overnight: found no errors in the RAM
I have no idea how this could be related but after running MemTest overnight I rebooted the machine and upon opening my e-mail client discovered the emails from the default Inbox were missing. All filtered e-mail folders seemed to contain e-mail. I opened my Opera browser and all opened tabs were gone. What!?! I opened more programs and did not notice missing data.
After being puzzled for a few moments I used R-Drive Image to connect a current backup system image and did a file compare using Beyond Compare. The files for the e-mail client and Opera sessions were to small too small so I copied over the files from the backup and all was fine. There seemed no other relevant file loss.
Do I have a HD that is going bad? If a HD with the OS on it is going bad could it cause the freezes? The system hasn't froze since yesterday.
Another weird thing that happens periodically is that a message like this pops up: "You just unplugged an audio device" and then the Realtek HD Manager appears on the screen. But none are plugged in and I haven't even been touching the computer. Could this be related to the freezing problem?
I'm not sure what to do next. Does anyone have suggestions? I'd really appreciate anything. I've scoured this and other web resources and have yet to find an answer.
If I haven't provided proper information please let me know what I needed. Thank you ...
==============================
Summary
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1
CPU
AMD FX 35 °C
Zambezi 32nm Technology
RAM
8.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 668MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. SABERTOOTH 990FX (Socket 942) 46 °C
Graphics
BenQ 241W (1920x1200@59Hz)
256MB GeForce 8600 GT (EVGA) 65 °C
Hard Drives
932GB Western Digital WDC WD10 02FAEX-00Y9A0 SATA Disk Device (SATA) 39 °C
932GB Western Digital WDC WD10 02FAEX-00Y9A0 SATA Disk Device (SATA) 38 °C
Optical Drives
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH22NS70 SATA CdRom Device
Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio
Since summer my previously stable W7 system has been freezing up randomly. The screen freezes, the keyboard and mouse don't work, and taping the Caps Lock or Num Lock does not make the indicator light change state. I have to reboot with the case power butons. It could go for days without freezing or sometimes would freeze twice in five hours. I can find no connection to specific programs or tasks running when the freezes happen. All Windows Updates are applied. Even with only keyboard, mouse, monitor and Ethernet cable plugged in the freezes occur. Aside from these random freezes the system seems entirely stable.
To troubleshoot I have:
1. Swapped in a different video card: keeps freezing
2. Upgraded CPU: keeps freezing
3. Ran Perfmon and found no problems: keeps freezing
4. Ran MemTest88 overnight: found no errors in the RAM
I have no idea how this could be related but after running MemTest overnight I rebooted the machine and upon opening my e-mail client discovered the emails from the default Inbox were missing. All filtered e-mail folders seemed to contain e-mail. I opened my Opera browser and all opened tabs were gone. What!?! I opened more programs and did not notice missing data.
After being puzzled for a few moments I used R-Drive Image to connect a current backup system image and did a file compare using Beyond Compare. The files for the e-mail client and Opera sessions were to small too small so I copied over the files from the backup and all was fine. There seemed no other relevant file loss.
Do I have a HD that is going bad? If a HD with the OS on it is going bad could it cause the freezes? The system hasn't froze since yesterday.
Another weird thing that happens periodically is that a message like this pops up: "You just unplugged an audio device" and then the Realtek HD Manager appears on the screen. But none are plugged in and I haven't even been touching the computer. Could this be related to the freezing problem?
I'm not sure what to do next. Does anyone have suggestions? I'd really appreciate anything. I've scoured this and other web resources and have yet to find an answer.
If I haven't provided proper information please let me know what I needed. Thank you ...
==============================
Summary
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1
CPU
AMD FX 35 °C
Zambezi 32nm Technology
RAM
8.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 668MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. SABERTOOTH 990FX (Socket 942) 46 °C
Graphics
BenQ 241W (1920x1200@59Hz)
256MB GeForce 8600 GT (EVGA) 65 °C
Hard Drives
932GB Western Digital WDC WD10 02FAEX-00Y9A0 SATA Disk Device (SATA) 39 °C
932GB Western Digital WDC WD10 02FAEX-00Y9A0 SATA Disk Device (SATA) 38 °C
Optical Drives
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH22NS70 SATA CdRom Device
Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio
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